Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Roberts County, SD

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 80.8 Very High

10,221
Population
9
Departments
9
Stations
4
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.28
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
18th highest of 66
Life Safety per 100k
2.72
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
35th highest of 66
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$4.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
28th highest of 66
Property Loss per Resident
$390
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
54th highest of 66

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Roberts County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 70% of the life-safety total.

Roberts County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $4.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 66 South Dakota counties. Nationally, Roberts County ranks 1598th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 366th for life safety per 100k residents, 2466th for property loss, and 1283rd for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Roberts County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Roberts County.

Talk to us about Roberts County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

46%
44%
10%
Property (buildings): $4.0M (46.2%)
Life safety: $3.8M (44.2%)
Agriculture: $831K (9.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $8,621,557 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Agriculture is 10% of expected annual loss in Roberts County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Cold Wave
$2.7M
Tornado
$484K
Winter Weather
$169K
Heat Wave
$145K
Strong Wind
$131K
Ice Storm
$129K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$3.0M
Tornado
$427K
Wildfire
$167K
Strong Wind
$147K
Ice Storm
$124K
Winter Weather
$88K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Roberts County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

89%
11%
Volunteer: 89% (8)
Unreported: 11% (1)
Residents per Station
1,136
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
88.1
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Roberts County, SD. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Roberts County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 9 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Milbank Volunteer Fire Department 5,473 $4.3M Very High 1
Sisseton Fire Department 5,316 $2.0M Very High 1
Corona Fire Department 1,860 $1.3M Very High 1
Big Stone City Fire Department 1,221 $813.0K Very High 1
Waubay Volunteer Fire Department 1,131 $584.7K Very High 1
Wilmot Fire Department 1,262 $482.2K Relatively High 1
Summit Volunteer Fire Department 755 $435.1K Very High 1
New Effington Fire Department 432 $159.7K Relatively High 1
Claire City Volunteer Fire Department 292 $108.0K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

15.7%
Poverty Rate
20.9%
Age 65+
10.4%
Disability Rate
18.2%
Uninsured
61.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
11.6%
Mobile Homes
25.2%
Vacancy Rate
1.7%
Wood Heat
$65,819
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

7
Last 10 Years
15
Last 25 Years
Flood
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo